Previews

Romancing Saga: Minstrel Song

Spiffy:

Distinct character stylings; non-linear scenario system.

Iffy:

Will it be well received by a Western audience?

Even though it has been around for a long time, the Saga series hasn't been so hot lately. After receiving massive critical disdain from both the West and the East for the last installment, Unlimited Saga, Square is deciding to return to the series' roots by basing this game upon Romancing Saga, the first entry in the Super Famicom Saga series that remains beloved by Japanese fans to this day.

In fact, one of the first things you'll notice about RS: Minstrel Song is the character stylings. Instead of typical character models, the characters look more like polygon-rendered versions of the sprites of Square games past, with larger heads, smallish bodies, and big, expressive eyes. It's surprising at first, and the distinct look certainly helps the game to stand out among the crowd. It's also sure to invoke a twinge of nostalgia amongst the series faithful. However, the characters have been totally redesigned -- to the point where some of them may not be recognizable to the original game's fans at first.

As is typical in the Romancing Saga games, you can choose from several different heroes at the start, ranging from a noble to a pirate to a dancer. While your chosen hero's motivations provide a goal for your story, the game's non-linear "Free Scenario System" lets you explore the world freely and find your own way to the end. You have no specific path and no predetermined order of events to follow -- instead, you are encouraged to try things out and see where they lead you.

In a first for the series, the battles are completely 3D, with polygon character and enemy models. Battle is a standard turn-based affair, with character abilities determined by the weapons and magic they wield and the skills they've learned. You can also combine certain techniques together for a damaging super attack.

Many of the series' traditional quirks are also present. In battle, HP acts as a buffer for your "Life Points," which are your characters' actual vitality. You can lose all your HP and still survive as long as your Life Points don't drop to zero. Also, your characters don't gain levels and skills at a set rate -- instead, they pick up stat upgrades at battle's end and learn skills from using different items. Using magic often lets you learn more magic, and using weapon-based attacks frequently will give you more weapon-based skills. Characters can also equip several different kinds of weapons, rather than being limited to a very specific set.

It remains to be seen if and how other elements from the previous games -- such as the drawings of Tomomi Kobayashi, the well-known artist of the original Super Famicom Romancing Saga games -- will be implemented in this remake. A Western release is also unknown at this time, given the relatively poor reception of previous Saga games here -- however, given that the basis for this game is one of the series' shining examples, one can't rule it out entirely.